Constraint

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Constraint

A constraint is an ontic restriction that, under a fixed dynamical evolution, renders some states or transitions physically unreachable or energetically suppressed.

Constraints arise from physical structure, boundary conditions, conservation laws, couplings, and energetic costs. By restricting motion through state space, they carve accessible regions from potential and introduce asymmetries in how systems evolve.

Constraints do not choose outcomes or impose purpose.
They determine which alternatives are physically impossible.

Through this role, constraints:

• enable distinctions by defining meaningful partitions of state space,
• support persistence by suppressing equilibration,
• make records possible by controlling access and interaction.

Distillation

Constraints do not decide what happens.
They decide what cannot happen.

Why it matters

• Distinction: Differences exist only relative to constraints.
• Persistence: Metastability requires constrained transitions.
• Records: Memory depends on restricted access and controlled coupling.
• RDD coherence: Grounds structure and asymmetry without invoking agents or intention.

Links

Related atoms:

• Distinction
• Entropy
• Persistence Bias
• Potential
• State Space
• Time

Used in molecules:

• Conflicts with:
  • Teleological or agent-driven accounts of structure
  • Views that treat constraints as purely epistemic or descriptive

Sources

• Source: Goldstein, H. (2000). Classical mechanics (2. ed., 32. [Nachdr.]). Addison-Wesley.

  • Key: @goldsteinClassicalMechanics2000
  • Use here: Formal treatment of constraints as reductions of degrees of freedom in physical systems.

• Source: Sethna, J. P. (2021). Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity.
  - Key: @sethnaEntropyOrderParameters2021
  - Use here: Constraints as emergent restrictions shaping accessible microstates.

• Source: Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2787
  - Key: @fristonFreeenergyPrincipleUnified2010
  - Use here: Illustrates constraint-driven dynamics without requiring goal-directed agents.

Re-contextualization Log

• 2025-12-29

  • context: Dependency audit revealed implicit assumptions about dynamics, reachability, and counterfactual exclusion
  • effect: refined
  • note: Explicitly tied constraints to fixed dynamical evolution; clarified that constraints operate by rendering states or transitions physically unreachable or energetically suppressed; strengthened links to asymmetry, persistence, and record formation.

• 2025-12-26

  • context: Required mechanism linking state space to distinction and persistence
  • effect: created
  • note: Introduced constraint as an ontic restriction shaping system dynamics without teleology; grounded distinction and persistence in physical limitations rather than agents or purposes.